The heat is definitely on

So I'm in Sydney, having just finished hanging out at Miss Saigon rehearsals for two days.

All I can say is....WOW!

I think I'm most impressed by the scale of the whole thing more than anything else. The music department consists of four for this production -- the Musical Supervisor (head honcho -- also doubling as the MD for the bulk of the tour), Associate Musical Director, Associate Conductor, and repetiteur. (I can't spell that word).

This is the 7th time that Guy (MD) has done Miss Saigon, and the 3rd or 4th time for Adrian (associate), so these guys know the score pretty much inside out.

I was really impressed by the team feeling amongst the music department. My previous experiences that have been on the cusp of professional theatre (Les Mis, JC Superstar), have left me with a definite foul taste in my mouth from the other key members of the production team, and I had formed the distinct impression that professionals are assholes.

I am so happy to say that it turns out it was just the assholes that I had worked with. These guys were great. And know thier shit inside out.

These guys are rehearsing 6 days a week, 10am - 6pm, for five weeks. Because they have the luxury of time (relative to a non-professional proudction, rehearsing 3 times a week, 3 hours a call), they get to work at a more relaxed and thorough pace.

It was evident that they were taking things at a slightly more relaxed pace, given that it was the first couple of days of rehearsals, and that Guy was really only working in broad strokes (setting numbers and people in vocal groups for ensemble numbers, and roughly teaching harmonies), leaving Adrian to go back and do a tidy up later. However, having said all that, I felt that at a standard rehearsal that I work on, we'd probably cover twice as much in the same period of time. Not a criticism, just an observation.

Unfortuantely I won't be there for the later calls, so I won't get to see how much time Guy and Adrian spends polishing vocals from calls earlier this week.

It's encouraging to see that in terms of the vocal rehearsals, nothing is really hugely different between the way that I work, and the way these uber MD's do it.

The calibre of the ensemble was really high. They sounded great on the big choral numbers -- Morning of the Dragon & This is the Hour. However, having said that, these guys weren't infallible, and not the dissimilar from the kinds of cast I've been working with here in Melbourne. Standard kinda issues -- Sops were sharp, tenors were flat, harmonies with close intervals took ages for people to learn.

I also sat in on scene rehearsals for the characters of Kim & Chris doing their love scene (Why God -> This Money's Yours -> Sun & Moon). This has got to be one of the absolute highlights for me.

The director was incredible. His passion was overwhelming.
His compassion for the story and understanding of the lives of the characters and their journey's was amazing.
His ability to communicate this is a engaging, interactive dialouge with his cast was stunning. he wasn't condescending, or arrogant.

And watching him craft this scene with Kim & Chris, watching it develop into the piece of theatre that it was when I left, was just incredible.

I get to go back and meet up with them all once orchestra rehearsals start in Melbourne, which I am definitely looking forward to.